World's Coolest Hot Rod Motorhome - The DecoLiner

“Is it an Airstream?” “Does it float?” Randy Grubb’s handbuilt DecoLiner draws all sorts of questions from gawkers, and there’s usually a gaggle of them. The polished-aluminum teardrop fuselage seems to attract a crowd and elicit smiles no matter where it’s parked or driven. We had to see what it was all about.

You may know Randy by the Blastolene moniker (see Blastolene.com), the source of the famed Tank Car now owned by Jay Leno; it’s a huge roadster powered by a 30.0L V12 Patton tank engine. I met Randy at SEMA 2010, where his previous build, the Piss’d Off Pete, was on display. The chopped, bare-aluminum Peterbilt was equipped with a two-stroke 12-71 GM diesel that had an exhaust note that made Randy the Pied Piper of gearheads. Each time Randy revved the Detroit Diesel, car guys would flock, but he noticed that while certain show visitors were enthralled with the truck, others wouldn’t even glance at it. Something about Pete just didn’t strike a chord with everyone. That’s not the case with the DecoLiner.

I spent two days with Randy and Jeannette Grubb at their home in Grants Pass, Oregon, and told them that I wanted to experience the DecoLiner, a handbuilt mashup of a motorhome and a ’50 White truck. Randy decided that the best way to show it in its element was to bring it to a car show. We stepped into the cab, Randy fired up the V8, and we drove 30 miles down Interstate 5 to Medford, Oregon, for the Thunderstruck motorcycle and car show. Despite the amazing motorcycles on display, the DecoLiner was easily the star of the show, as dozens of people, young and old, walked through the interior, climbed up to the flying bridge, and peppered Randy with questions that he was more than happy to answer.

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It’s a trick chassis. It’s ridiculously light. — Randy Grubb

After wiping nose prints from the porthole glass, Randy and I headed back to Grants Pass, tearing up the Oregon Interstate at 75 mph. Randy didn’t seem to be bothered by the crosswind, he just kept both hands on the steering wheel to keep it going straight, except when he waved to passing motorists who slowed to get a better look at the massive aluminum freakshow and take photos with their cell phones. Randy explained, “I used to get a thumbs up, now I just get a device.”

The DecoLiner is a bit loud because of the flex fan that’s right below the cab floor, but there are no other squeaks or rattles, and the engine runs cool. Thanks to the portholes and rear windows in the stairs up the spine of the DecoLiner, visibility isn’t bad, either. The base of the DecoLiner is a ’73 GMC motorhome. That means it’s got an Oldsmobile 455 with a front-wheel-drive TH425 transaxle like an Olds Toronado. It just might be the coolest front-wheel-drive vehicle ever, and yes, we’re including the EM-50 urban assault vehicle from Stripes that was based on the very same GMC motorhome. Due to the extensive use of aluminum, the DecoLiner only weights about 7,000 pounds—much less than the 12,500-pound GVWR of the GMC chassis—yet the body is so rigid that it can be jacked up by only one corner.

When he found out I was visiting, Randy called the cadre of craftsmen from southern Oregon who helped on the DecoLiner build. John Huring, whom Randy describes as a perfectionist and amazing problem solver, helped line the interior with birch door skin, which fits with the Art Deco style of the build. We checked out John’s small-block-Ford–powered E-Type Jaguar and his under-construction ’32 Vicky. Attention to detail was obvious in all of his work. Next, we dropped by to see Don Tippet, who was also working on a Ford hot rod. Randy calls Don his “line guy,” and he was instrumental in helping get the proportions and lines of the DecoLiner just right. He also pinstriped the massive streamlined beast inside and out. While Don was spraying a sedan in his paint booth, Randy and I poked around his art studio and marveled at how Don is able to paint in several different styles from classic portraits to noir to Diego Rivera–style murals. Our last stop was to Ron Crume’s paint/machine shop, where he keeps his under-construction ’57 Chevy and repurposes heavy shop machinery to manufacture precision ball-and-seat valves.

5/37Randy and Jeannette have racked up more than 10,000 miles on the homemade DecoLiner and do use it for camping.

I had nearly wrapped up my visit and was already thinking of my 800-mile drive home when Randy reminded me that he hadn’t shown me the Liner’s flying bridge yet. Perhaps it’s because it looks like it’s supposed to be there, but driving from the flying bridge didn’t seem at all unnatural until I actually climbed the teak stairs to ride shotgun while Randy piloted the DecoLiner around the back roads of Grants Pass—from the roof. Only when I got to the top did I realize that this roadster we were sitting in was piggybacking a fullsize motorhome. It’s just a little bit insane. Before I had any second thoughts, Randy explained that he installed beefy antisway bars front and rear to keep body roll to a minimum. They worked. Even though we were several feet above the vehicle’s centerline, body roll was minimal, I never felt queasy, and the view was amazing. You do need to keep an eye out for tree branches, though.

So what’s next for Randy? He’s building version 2.0 of his Decopod scooter, and soon he’ll be collaborating with his favorite artist on a top-secret automotive build, again using aluminum. The DecoLiner is for sale, and he has to make room in his shop before he can start on the next big undertaking. He hinted that he already had a few ideas in mind, and based on his last few builds, we won’t have to go too long before there’s another aluminum-skinned SEMA debut that will have everyone talking.

9/37The flying bridge definitely offers a unique driving perspective. The gauge bezel was designed by Randy, who had two of them sand-cast for the build. A D.O.T.-approved cable runs from the top brake pedal and pulls on the brake pedal inside the cab.

Randy’s Metal-Crafting History
Although he spent much of his professional life as a glass artist, Randy’s got a long history of building cars. When he was 12 years old, Randy bought a neighbor’s Honda motorcycle, assembled it, and traded it back to his neighbor for a Ford flathead. His father gave him a Model A frame and helped him buy a ’31 roadster body. He had it running when he was 14 and soon bought a ’40 Ford pickup that he drove throughout high school.

10/37HOT ROD’s Gray Baskerville photographed Randy and his ’40 Ford pickup that he turned into a roadster. It was featured in the Oct. ’88 issue of HOT ROD.

A. The icebox is a reproduction soda vending machine; the contour of the front panel was too close to the White truck cab’s inner door panels to ignore. B. The rear panel of the vending machine was removed to create the cupboard door. C. A futon folds flat and creates a boat-like V-berth. There’s a large storage area underneath. D. The floor tiles are cork.

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The GMC chassis allows for low step-in height and more than 6 feet of headroom while still keeping the flying bridge low.A. Randy had 3⁄4-inch aluminum sheet water-jet cut to form the ribs of the DecoLiner’s body. The oval holes allow for a rivet buck. Randy spaced them toward the inside edge so that they could be shown off once the insulation and birch plywood were installed.B. ’53 Pontiac speaker grilles house speakers and a vintage clock. C. The top of a vintage space heater conceals a modern 12-volt car stereo head unit. D. A structural rib in the roof hides the wiring for the overhead lights. E. Insulation from DEI keeps the interior from turning into an aluminum oven, but the 455 Olds engine puts out a lot of heat and it has to go somewhere, so the interior can get toasty. An HVAC unit is underneath the wraparound bench seat.

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Here’s the telescope steering linkage connected for driving from the flying bridge.

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A. Ford-banjo steering wheel. B. Peterbilt column bell. C. Floorboard/fan shroud D. Fully framed windows, factory on the ’50 White 3000 COE. E. ’36 Ford glovebox door. Not shown: Two Mastershift consoles—one up top, one down below—control the TH425. One is locked out of operation when the other is in use.

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The Build
One of Randy’s friends spotted a White 3000 COE truck in a field and sent Randy a photo, which got the gears turning. Sketches followed and were honed by artist/pinstriper Don Tippit, who helped Randy with the critical design details and getting the lines of the DecoLiner just right. From there it was just a matter of building an entire 26-foot body and skeleton from scratch. No big deal, right?

18/37<strong>01. </strong> This late version of the rendering shows that the final product was not too far from the mark, but
note the original name: Blast o’ liner.

37/37<strong>10. </strong>10/17/2011: John Huring and Jeannette Grubb carefully fit 1⁄8-inch birch plywood to the interior after covering the aluminum in insulation. Two weeks later, Randy and Jeanette drove the DecoLiner to Las Vegas, where it debuted at the Mothers tent.